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More than a year after daytime television soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live went off the air when they were cancelled by ABC, production company Prospect Park has announced it will revive the shows online, as the anchor programs for The Online Network (TOLN).

Prospect Park, the production company behind the hit USA network show, Royal Pains, and the F/X show Wilfred, was founded in 2008 by Rich Frank, a former executive at Walt Disney Television, and Jeff Kwatinetz, the former CEO of Hollywood talent agency, The Firm.

Prospect Park announced today that it has confirmed deals with the unions - a sticking point in negotiations a year ago which led to the deal falling through. This time however, SAG and AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) are officially on board, as well as the DGA (Directors Guild of America). Talks are ongoing with the WGA (Writers Guild of America).

AMC’s and OLTL’s legendary creator, Agnes Nixon, has agreed to have “active involvement with the shows” as a consultant. Three actors (Vincent Irizarry, Lindsay Hartley and Debbi Morgan) have already signed on to reprise their AMC roles. No casting news was available for OLTL yet. Production is set to start in Stamford, Connecticut in February. No premiere dates have been announced.

The shows are rumored to be moving from 60 minutes to 30 minutes, with fewer ad breaks.

Once a staple of everyday life, first on radio, then on television, soaps were originally intended as a vehicle for soap manufacturers to sell their products, hence the nickname “soaps.” At the height of their popularity in the early 1970’s, there were 19 soaps broadcast every day, with the highest rated soap, As the World Turns, receiving a 13.6 in the ratings.

In recent years, thanks to declining ratings and more alternative media options (cable TV, YouTube, Facebook) vying for a limited number of consumer eyeballs, only four network soaps remain. The current number one rated soap, The Young and the Restless, averaged a 3.5 in the ratings for the 2011-2012 TV season.

Soap fans remain a vocal and viable block for advertisers. Thanks to widespread fan outrage over the cancellation of AMC and OLTL in 2011 - and their threats to boycott ABC - advertisers took note. Vacuum maker Hoover even pulled all of their ads from ABC, citing disappointment over the dropped soaps.

“We thank the loyal audience and new generation of fans of both shows who have demonstrated that passion and exciting story lines are not just reserved for traditional television. Their enduring support encouraged us to move forward each and every day. We look forward to sharing more details including our launch air date and additional specifics in the coming weeks.”

It remains to be seen whether viewers will follow from television to an online format, but the move seems a smart bet as viewing habits change.

With more forms of media come more ways to view it. According to a recent study cited in Ad Week, only 40% of adults between 18-24 watch television programs at their broadcast scheduled times. In the same article, Nielsen Media said “the 25-to-34 demo spends about 28 hours each week watching traditional TV, compared to 41 hours from those aged 50 to 65 and 32.47 hours for all U.S. viewers.”

With Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, Smart phones, Tablets, Facebook, and Twitter giving fans more options to discover, consume, share, and discuss their favorite shows, Prospect Park has the opportunity to do online what can’t be done through traditional broadcast distribution channels. With online video, a show is only a click away from the social media streams of every consumer. The social media-equipped consumer becomes the distributor.

If Prospect Park’s gambit proves a success, the next time any show goes off the air - whether daytime or primetime - its move online may not be seen as the show’s death knell, but as a sign of the new media life to come.